• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
  • Donate

The Arts Fuse

Boston's Online Arts Magazine: Dance, Film, Literature, Music, Theater, and more

  • Podcasts
  • Coming Attractions
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Commentary
  • The Arts
    • Performing Arts
      • Dance
      • Music
      • Theater
    • Other
      • Books
      • Film
      • Food
      • Television
      • Visual Arts
You are here: Home / Music / Classical Music / Classical News: Tanglewood and Mahler’s 3rd Symphony — Under Extreme Conditions

Classical News: Tanglewood and Mahler’s 3rd Symphony — Under Extreme Conditions

July 17, 2013 Leave a Comment

By Ron Barnell

hello
(L – R) Andy Icochea Icochea (PALS Children’s Chorus), Anne Sofie Von Otter, John Oliver (Tanglewood Festival Chorus), and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos beat the heat to perform Mahler’s 3rd during the opening weekend at Tanglewood. Photo: Ron Barnell.

Gustav Mahler’s 3rd Symphony as performed on the opening weekend at Tanglewood (July 6) by the Boston Symphony and choruses under the direction of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos was a triumph of both interpretive and technical performance—in spite of some very adverse weather conditions.

Frühbeck de Burgos conducted this magnificent music with a profound depth of feeling that remained moving from the return of the chaotic despair of the first movement through a final resignation that ultimately would be transformed to the rising glory inscribed in the symphony’s final pages. The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s massed strings and brass performed with a sustained energy and impressive power until the very close—with the dual tympanist’s “loud, but noble sound” (Mahler’s direction). The final D major chord hung in the air and then faded into a soft silence.

The orchestra had played the Mahler 3rd Symphony earlier in the season, under Daniele Gatti in Symphony Hall, but I found the Frühbeck de Burgos reading of the score provided far more insight. This was true even though the performance was undertaken under extreme conditions of the heat and humidity. This was particularly difficult for the choruses: the Tanglewood Festival Chorus was joined on stage by members of the PALS Children’s Chorus. Several members of the latter had to be taken off the stage during the performance because they had succumbed to the heat.

The Spanish-born Frühbeck de Burgos has a great affinity for large orchestral-choral works. I have seen him direct performances of such compositions as the Berlioz Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, but I never thought of him as a great Mahler conductor before this. It was an exceptional experience, and the gathered audience (perhaps because of the heat there were many empty seats) showed its appreciation with a loud and sustained standing ovation that brought conductor and principals back on stage for several well-deserved recalls.

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share

By: Ron Barnell Filed Under: Classical Music, Fuse News, Music Tagged: BSO, Gustav-Mahler, Rafael Frubeck De Burgos, Ron Barnell, Tanglewood

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search

Popular Posts

  • Film Review: “The World to Come” — A Haunting Female Frontier Romance The excitement of these films – perhaps the word frisso... posted on February 5, 2021
  • Concert Review: Tedeschi Trucks Band — Fiery “Fireside Sessions” With the “Fireside Sessions,” Tedeschi and Trucks have... posted on February 21, 2021
  • Film Review: “Malcolm & Marie” — Who’s Afraid of Sam Levinson? This film offers a much more nuanced and self-reflectiv... posted on February 12, 2021
  • Music Feature: Two Musicians on Dealing with the Pandemic –Jennifer Slowik and Yahuba Torres "Individual stories are the single most important compo... posted on February 14, 2021
  • Shelter in Place Attractions: February 7 through 23 — What Will Light Your Home Fires In the age of COVID-19, Arts Fuse critics have come up... posted on February 7, 2021

Social

Follow us:

Follow the Conversation

  • Pope Brock March 3, 2021 at 10:41 am on Film Review: “I Care a Lot” — Vague VillainyRegarding Dianne Wiest: I assumed the movie would be a contest between her and Pike, so I was surprised and...
  • Marian Kornicki March 3, 2021 at 8:47 am on Film Review: “I Care a Lot” — Vague VillainyI’m delighted and excited that J Blakeson has made a feature film about a decades-long enterprise that is growing. It...
  • Marian Kornicki March 3, 2021 at 8:24 am on Film Review: “I Care a Lot” — Vague VillainyI thought the film finally exposed a decades long scam. It is art imitating life. There is a public myth...
  • Bruno Råberg March 3, 2021 at 8:08 am on Music Profile: Violinist, Teacher, Composer, and Arranger Mimi Rabson — Making a Life in ArtIt is so great to read this feature on Mimi and Dave. They have both been friends and colleagues of...
  • David Daniel March 2, 2021 at 9:52 pm on March Short Fuses – Materia CriticaThanks for the mixed bag of reviews; enjoyed them all. If one phrase might suffice to sum up the zeitgeist,...

Footer

  • About Us
  • Advertising/Underwriting
  • Syndication
  • Media Resources
  • Editors and Contributors

We Are

Boston’s online arts magazine since 2007. Powered by 70+ experts and writers.

Follow Us

Monthly Archives

Categories

"Use the point of your pen, not the feather." -- Jonathan Swift

Copyright © 2021 · The Arts Fuse - All Rights Reserved · Website by Stephanie Franz